It’s Monday, what are you reading? (4/25/22)

I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend. We had gorgeous 80 degree weather in Nashville and I had to work all weekend. Ugh! Despite missing out on some great outdoor activities, I managed to finish a new book being released next month and started another. I have a backlog of books I need to read and review. There are so many great books coming out next month! Curious? Check out what I’ve been reading.

JUST FINISHED

Dare I say it? I think this was my favorite Jasmine Guillory book yet! Great characters that were easy to relate to and I loved the premise!

JUST STARTED

I literally just turned the first page and haven’t yet gotten a feel for this book, but it’s Kasie West! Her contemporary young adult books consistently deliver and I can’t wait to dig into this one!

Have a great Monday and don’t forget to lose yourself in a great book!

Deb

This Chicks Audio Review: Next in Line (Cake #6) by J. Bengtsson

The driving force behind Quinn McCallister, the youngest brother of rock star Jake McCallister, is that he is determined to be better and more famous than his older brother. Kind of hard to do when your older brother was a kidnap victim who escaped after a month of captivity only by killing his captor. Then there’s the fact that he’s uber talented. Quinn grew up in Jake’s limelight, wishing for his attention but not getting it. No surprise because his brother has some horrible trauma to work through. As Next in Line begins, Quinn is a candidate on a singing competition show and despite promises from the producers not to use his family to garner ratings they, of course do. In return Quinn sings a heartbreaking song that goes viral, and walks off and out of their lives. Enter Jess, the uber/Lyft driver who picks him up as he’s being chased down the sidewalk by one of said producers. He gets in the car and her sass immediately gets him out of his own head. Who is this girl who he has told to take him someplace fun, but not too much fun?

I am a big fan of the Cake series. J. Bengtsson’s witty dialog always keeps me reading despite knowing she’s going to make me relive Jake’s torture for the sixth time. Next In LIne, while still dealing with the trauma the McCallister family went through because of what happened to Jake and subsequently them, does seem slightly watered down. Maybe in part this is because Quinn was only six years old when his brother was kidnapped. Just as with the other McCallister kids, they use humor to hide behind and Jess, who also has a difficult childhood does the same. This means I chuckled, laughed, and cried my way through their interactions.

There was one point in the book where I turned to my sister, who had already read the book, and asked if Quinn and Jess’s stories will twine back together again because i was reading this for the romance, not for Quinn’s journey into rock and roll. I did stick it out, but I really wish I’d been reading the book instead of listening to it because I could’ve skipped over some of the less interesting (to me) parts and gotten back to the romance. The narrator’s BTW did an amazing job. Andi Arndt should read all contemporary books and as much as I love Zachary Webber normally, I think she outshone him in her interpretation of the characters, even Quinn’s. She was incredible.

I bet you’re trying to figure out if I liked this book. I’ll admit, I waffled a bit. Yes, I did like it but I wish it was more Quinn and Jess, and less Quinn the rock star. I wish that Jake didn’t have to relive his trauma every time one of his brothers or sisters fell in love. I feel bad for the guy! I also wish that Andi Arndt had more audio time. However, if I break it down, this series is one that I’ll keep coming back to read and listen to again and again. Yes, I do have my favorite books (Kyle’s and Emma’s), and Quinn’s probably falls at the bottom of the list but it was still good. Some Others were just better. I’m sure you have your own favorite too.

❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click this link to purchase the audiobook!* Next in Line: A Cake Series Novel

Copyright 2022 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

This Chick Read: Taking the Leap (River Rain #3) by Kristen Ashley

Alexandra Sharp knows she has to get over this crush she has on her co-worker “Rix” Hendrix. She stumbles, stutters, and glances away whenever he’s near and he can’t help but notice. However, his own insecurities make him think her discomfort is because of his prosthetics, not because she finds him attractive. Until they are out for drinks one night to celebrate and they get a chance to connect. Alex is never going to take the chance, despite having lied to her sister about her dating Rix and is forced into saying he’ll be her plus one at Blake’s wedding. Rix takes advantage of the situation to get to know Alex the shy, beautiful woman who has feelings for him.

This really was a very simple story arc for Alex and Rix. Co-workers who plan to pretend they are a couple for the purpose of protecting Alex from her socialite and kind of mean sister, and parents. Rix plays all the right angles stating they need to get to know each other in order to get their story straight and feel comfortable. That comfortableness quickly advances into a physical relationship and their pretend status becomes permanent. However, there are emotional subtleties that each character needs to overcome in order to advance their relationship emotionally. Taking the Leap is as straightforward a romance as Kristen Ashley knows how to write and Alex and Rix are characters you can root for and can’t help but like. I did.

For me, the story became energized when Rix and Alex got to New York and were mixing with her high society family. Her sister Blake’s bride-zilla attitude and her mother’s OMG behaviour added relevance as to why Alex was so quiet and shy. Rix’s protective nature came out and you forgot that he was a man with amputated legs. He was all alpha male. Out of all those scenes with her family I especially liked the quiet moments of bonding between Alex and her dad which were sweet and hopeful.

Taking the Leap had moments where Rix and Alex touched on all of the emotions, but it was the wedding scene that struck me as most memorable and man did I laugh! Without giving away any details, I’ll just say that the family bonded over an enemy and the way it went down was all I’d hoped it would be.

I had high hopes for Alex and Rix, and overall I liked them a lot. They were a good pairing and seemed to compliment each others strengths and weaknesses. However, they paled in comparison to the strength and joy in Chloe and Judge’s story. Those two will forever be my favorites in this series, but this book did not disappoint. For those of you who want to jump right in, yes, you can read this as a stand alone, but at least start with Chasing Serenity because the back story will help you with these characters histories and you’ll enjoy your journey a bit more. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link and purchase this book!* Taking the Leap: A River Rain Novel

Copyright 2022 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

This Chick Read: Sari, Not Sari by Sonya Singh

Manny Dogra, CEO of Breakup, a company that helps break the news gently through email, is successful and beautiful. She’s also engaged to Adam, a hard-working architect and entrepreneur. Of South Asian descent, Manny was raised by her parents to be All-American where working hard can help you capture your dream, but when she finds herself on a magazine cover that has edited out her heritage by lightening her skin tone she finds herself having an identity crisis. Sammy Patel wants to use Breakup’s services to temporarily break-up with his girlfriend so he can go to his brothers wedding and not have to deal with his family’s being upset that he has a non-Indian girlfriend. Manny and Sammy strike a deal. She’ll help him out if he brings her to the week-long festivities so she can see what being in a big Indian family is really like.

I love a strong hard-working female protagonist and Manny is all of that, plus she’s kind-hearted and a good friend to her co-workers and friends. Her search for her heritage was colorful, fun, and dazzling. She fit right in and found herself, which was a really neat thing to read about and explore through her eyes. I liked her story a lot. I don’t usually love plots where our main character has a boyfriend, or is engaged to another man and then finds a new one before ending the old relationship, but Sonya Singh does a great job of making Adam somewhat unavailable to both Manny and the reader so you never build a connection to him. When Sammy enters her life and fills it with color you don’t feel too bad and that’s before you catch on to plot details and character defects that sway your decision one way or the other. So, nice job Ms. Singh on taking that trope and making it work. Other authors have made me cringe but this book didn’t at all. Whew!

The story definitely took off when you got to Sammy’s family and Manny’s eagerness to fit in. I fell in love with all of the characters, the clothes, and how Manny finally found herself. I do wish there had been more scenes between Manny and Sammy so that I could feel like she fell in love with him as well as falling in love with her heritage and subsequently him because of that but there were enough subliminal feelings to convince me that this could be a love story. The heat factor was very mild to almost non-existent the moments between our two main characters were more sweet and supportive than sizzling chemistry. For those of you who like a light (less heated) romance Sari, Not Sari will be a perfect hit. While I am not an erotica reader, I do like a bit of chemistry and heat in my romance novels and I was a little bit disappointed.

Sari, Not Sari is the debut novel by Sonya Singh. I loved her writing style which was very easy reading. The plot flowed really well and the characters had depth so the reader understood them very well. The only thing missing for me was a little heat so that their love didn’t feel so much like insta-love. Despite that, I would still highly recommend this novel for the fun South Asian parties, clothes, and characters. Sari, Not Sari is sweet and so easy to like. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley or my honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this novel!* Sari, Not Sari

Copyright 2022 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if your purchase this novel through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

This Chick Read: Always Jane by Jenn Bennett

Every summer Jane works with the domestic staff of a famous rock producer at a music festival in the mountains. She has been long-distance dating Eddie Sarafian, the son of the family who runs the festival and she’s excited to finally be in close confines. When he jets off to do business in the Philippines she finds out things that makes her question that relationship and brings her closer to Fen, his brother. Over the next few weeks they go from antagonistic friends to falling in serious like throwing a serious loop into her summer plans.

When Jane and Fen first meet he is dark, disturbing, and seems to be the black sheep of his family. We soon discover that the Sarafian brothers may not be what Jane thought and the more time she spends with Fen the deeper their attraction grows. I’ll admit, I loved Fen, but boy is he a dark soul! He is tall, dark, and handsome and has been obsessed with Jane since he saved her when she fell in the ocean two years ago. He has even commemorated that accident with a tattoo. As she gets to know the Sarafian family she is drawn to how “normal” they seem but as she gets to know them she sees the problems that reside at their roots which lead her to making some difficult choices.

I was surprised by the dark undertones in this book. The synopsis made it sound like it would be a young adult contemporary with a bit of a romance and it was, but there was also quite a bit of angst and pain. Not a bad thing but just unexpected. Fortunately I really liked both Jane and Fen. The more that was revealed about each of them the more their quirks made sense and I wanted to keep getting to know them.

I’m a sucker for books that have a music theme. Not that I know that much about music, I don’t! I just love that vibe and creativity. That Jane and Fen got to know each other through their love of music gave them a commonality that was fun to read and was a good contrast to the dark themes throughout the novel. Have you read a lot of Jenn Bennett novels? I’ve read a few and thought I knew what to expect but this novel surprised me. ❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase!* Always Jane

Copyright 2022 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this novel through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

This Chicks Sunday Commentary: My Top 5 Book Releases- April’22

For me, April is a pretty light month for books released that I’d like to read. Although I’ll admit if I actually read the synopsis of each book release I could probably add 25 books to my TBR, but I’m trying to avoid that at the moment. I took at look at the Goodreads list and came up with the five I’m most likely to read according to my own taste. Here’s my list!

#5 BOOK RELEASE

Kylie Scott writes great rock star romances so I’m always curious when the first book in a new series comes out. This one sounds good! The guy next door in a small town is a rock star and Ani Bennett is none too pleased (despite being a fan).

Synopsis:

What chance does a small-town girl have with a world-famous rock star?

Two years after his wife’s death, rock star Garrett Hayes hasn’t moved on. But he has moved out of L.A. Where better to escape his past than a small town in the northern California mountains? If only he could get the townsfolk of Wildwood to leave him the hell alone.

Ani Bennet returned to her hometown for some much-needed serenity. The last thing she needs is a grumpy, too hot for his own good, rich and famous rock star living next door—and rent-free in her brain.

She set her fangirl tendencies aside and deleted his photo from her cell when they became neighbors. But when Garrett asks for help, she can’t say no. The problem is, spending time together is making those fangirl feelings resurface—and bringing them to a whole new level.

What chance does a small-town girl have with world-famous rock star? It’s time for Ani to set her fears aside and find out.

Click HERE to purchase!

#4 BOOK RELEASE

This is a debut novel by Sonya Singh about a young woman whose parents were raised in India but raised her to be “All-American” and her identity crisis and re-discovering her South Asian roots. This is described as a rom-com and after reading several South Asian romance novels in the past year I’m eager to read this new author!

Synopsis:

Manny Dogra is the beautiful young CEO of Breakup, a highly successful company that helps people manage their relationship breakups. As preoccupied as she is with her business, she’s also planning her wedding to handsome architect Adam Jamieson while dealing with the loss of her beloved parents.

For reasons Manny has never understood, her mother and father, who were both born in India, always wanted her to become an “All-American” girl. So that’s what she did. She knows next to nothing about her South Asian heritage, and that’s never been a problem—until her parents are no longer around, and an image of Manny that’s been Photoshopped to make her skin look more white appears on a major magazine cover. Suddenly, the woman who built an empire encouraging people to be true to themselves is having her own identity crisis.

But when an irritating client named Sammy Patel approaches Manny with an odd breakup request, the perfect solution presents itself: If they both agree to certain terms, he’ll give her a crash course in being “Indian” at his brother’s wedding.

What follows is days of dancing and dal, masala and mehndi as Manny meets the lovable, if endlessly interfering, aunties and uncles of the Patel family, and, along the way, discovers much more than she could ever have anticipated.

Click HERE to purchase!*

#3 BOOK RELEASE

I’m not usually drawn to books that have several protagonists, but for some reason this one sounds cute. Maybe it’s the girlfriend group? Not sure, but Beth O’Leary is a bestselling author for a reason and I bet this novel is cute.

Synopsis:

Three women who seemingly have nothing in common find that they’re involved with the same man in this smart new rom-com by Beth O’Leary, bestselling author of The Flatshare.

Siobhan is a quick-tempered life coach with way too much on her plate. Miranda is a tree surgeon used to being treated as just one of the guys on the job. Jane is a soft-spoken volunteer for the local charity shop with zero sense of self-worth.

These three women are strangers who have only one thing in common: they’ve all been stood up on the same day, the very worst day to be stood up—Valentine’s Day. And, unbeknownst to them, they’ve all been stood up by the same man.

Once they’ve each forgiven him for standing them up, they are all in serious danger of falling in love with a man who may have not just one or two but three women on the go….

Is there more to him than meets the eye? Where was he on Valentine’s Day? And will they each untangle the truth before they all get their hearts broken?

Click HERE to purchase!*

#2 BOOK RELEASE

As soon as I saw the description using a comparison to Ocean’s Eleven my interest was peaked! I have never read a novel by this author so I hope it grabs me from the start.

Synopsis:

Ocean’s Eleven meets The Farewell in Portrait of a Thief, a lush, lyrical heist novel inspired by the true story of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums; about diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexity of the Chinese American identity.

History is told by the conquerors. Across the Western world, museums display the spoils of war, of conquest, of colonialism: priceless pieces of art looted from other countries, kept even now. 

Will Chen plans to steal them back.

A senior at Harvard, Will fits comfortably in his carefully curated roles: a perfect student, an art history major and sometimes artist, the eldest son who has always been his parents’ American Dream. But when a mysterious Chinese benefactor reaches out with an impossible—and illegal—job offer, Will finds himself something else as well: the leader of a heist to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures, looted from Beijing centuries ago. 

His crew is every heist archetype one can imag­ine—or at least, the closest he can get. A con artist: Irene Chen, a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything. A thief: Daniel Liang, a premed student with steady hands just as capable of lockpicking as suturing. A getaway driver: Lily Wu, an engineering major who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valley software engineer. Each member of his crew has their own complicated relationship with China and the identity they’ve cultivated as Chinese Americans, but when Will asks, none of them can turn him down. 

Because if they succeed? They earn fifty million dollars—and a chance to make history. But if they fail, it will mean not just the loss of everything they’ve dreamed for themselves but yet another thwarted at­tempt to take back what colonialism has stolen.

Click HERE to purchase!*

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase one of these books through the above links I’ll receive a small stipend.

MY MOST ANTICIPATED APRIL’22 BOOK RELEASE

When a book comes out by Penny Reid it gets added to my TBR immediately. I love her writing style and her characters are always quirky and fun. I can’t wait to finally read this novel!

Synopsis:

Winnifred Gobaldi and Byron Visser are not best friends.

Yes, they’ve known each other for years, but they’re not even friendly. Winnie considers them more like casual, distant acquaintances who find each other barely tolerable, especially when he’s being condescending (which is all the time).

The truth is, they have nothing in common. She’s a public school science teacher with stars in her eyes, and he’s a pretentious, joyless double PhD turned world-famous bestselling fiction author. She loves sharing her passion for promulgating women in STEM careers and building community via social media, and he eschews all socialization, virtual or otherwise. She’s looking for a side hustle to help pay down a mountain of student debt, and his financial portfolio is the stuff of fiduciary wet dreams. So why are they faking a #bestfriend relationship for millions of online spectators?

When a simple case of tit-for-tat trends between nonfriends leads to a wholly unexpected kind of pretend, nothing is simple. Sometimes, it takes a public audience to reveal the truth of private feelings, and rarely—very rarely—you should believe what you see online.

Click HERE to purchase!*

What do you think? Do you agree with my top 5? Do you have your own that you want to shout out to the world? Please feel free to let me know about a book that’s on your own top 5 list.

Happy reading!

Deb

It’s Monday, what are you reading? (3/21/22)

Isn’t it awesome when you have a bunch of free time and can read just any ol’ thing you want? I’ve been going through my library wishlist and checking out what sounds good as well as taking a look at what’s been on my Kindle and have read through a few great books over the last week. It’s been so fun!

Thanks again to Book Date for starting this conversation and allowing us all to share what we’re reading.

JUST FINISHED

I saw this book on a Goodreads list about great romances of 2022 and thought I’d give this author a try. It’s the third book in the series but I didn’t miss not reading books 1 and 2. It was a different kind of historical novel that I actually really liked. I may go back and read the other two books!

JUST STARTED

This book has been on my Kindle for over three years. I didn’t read it during the Pandemic because it’s about a virus that kills off a majority of the world’s population but I picked it up yesterday to give it another try. It is very Nora Roberts in writing style and it was easy to get interested. I’ll admit, it’s kind of weird reading about a deadly virus but I’m going to power through and see where this book leads me. I know it’s a three book series so I’ll make my decision later on whether I continue reading the other books.

Have you read either of these books? What did you think? If they aren’t books you’d see yourself reading, please share what’s on your coffee table.

Happy Monday and happy reading!

Deb

This Chick Read: Homecoming King (Three Kings #1) by Penny Reid

Rex McMurtry, pro football defensive end for the Chicago Squalls, has a reputation for dating a woman and having the next person they date marry them. Always a bridesmaid and never a bride, Rex is tired of the journalists poking fun at him. When Abby finds her high school crush sitting quietly at the bar where she works, she silently serves him two drinks not realizing that he is blind drunk. Feeling responsible, she has a few friends help get him into her car where she plans to drive him home. His throwing up all over the both of them derails that plan and she decides the safest place for his famous face is on the blow up mattress in her apartment. When he wakes up and realizes she took care of him he makes a proposition that she unfortunately just can’t refuse.

I loved Abby! She is more than slightly distrustful of people and so guards her heart very tightly, but Rex was her childhood crush. She couldn’t really refuse any request he’d make of her, even if it was to be his fake wife. She was the perfect mix of innocence and arrogance. After a failed marriage and a brief stint in prison I don’t blame her for not trusting men. Her ex was a dirtbag! Despite Rex’s fake marriage proposition she feels like she knows him because she semi-stalked him all through her youth. Truthfully, he isn’t much different than he was back in high school, putting a wall up between he and anyone who wants to get close. Abby has a way of disarming him and soon she becomes one of the most important people in his life. Once again, Penny Reid writes a charming, different type of romance novel that is just fun, funny, and really damn appealing.

Most of Rex’s friends have gotten married, all to ex’s of Rex’s. LOL. However, there are two friends who’ve remained single and dare I guess that they will be King #2 and #3? While not War and Peace, Homecoming King is utterly charming and the series has promise. I can’t wait for the second to come out. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase!* Homecoming King (Three Kings Book 1)

Copyright 2022 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

This Chick Read: The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

Catalina Martín is the Maid of Honor in her sister’s wedding and she just found out that her ex will be bringing his new fiancée to the wedding. This was not a relationship that ended well and in fact contributed to Lina moving from Spain to NYC. Ever since their break-up she’s had trouble trusting someone enough to let them into her life and has remained single, but the last thing she wants to do is go back home as “poor Lina” for her sister’s wedding. She needs a date! Enter Aaron Blackford, her handsome and cold work frenemy, who volunteers to be her plus one. Despite the signs for a disastrous trip, Lina agrees to pull off this Spanish Love Deception with Aaron. What she doesn’t expect is for that frenemy chemistry to shift until she sees him with new eyes. Was she wrong about him all along?

This novel won Best Debut of 2021 by Goodreads readers and I can certainly see why! It’s reminiscent of all of the best enemies to lovers novels, including one of my favorites from last year The Love Hypothesis but this author steps up the chemistry a little earlier with a “fake date” that has Lina questioning her hatred of Aaron mid book instead of making us wait until the very end for her to realize he’s the one for her. I’m not saying that their fait accompli is not still drawn out, but at least there is some hesitancy to hate, which for me made all of the difference.

Is the plot of needing a date for a wedding overused? Yes, I think it is, however Lina’s charming Spanish family more than made up for any tiredness. I loved how everyone wanted Lina’s happiness and how they stood by her despite her ex being the groom’s brother. I also loved, loved, loved Aaron. He gives some swoon-worthy monologues that makes this fantasy novel shoot to a ten on the emotional scale. If he wasn’t already fictional, I’d certainly think he was too good to be true! Not to say he didn’t have his faults, he never strayed from his cool as a cucumber persona, but he was all mush when it came to Catalina. It was so sweet.

This was true escapism at its best. Easy reading, great characters, lots of depth of character, and a magnificently steamy love story. The fact it’s this author’s debut novel is astounding and boy… I can’t wait for her second. Ummm, when is it coming out? ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase!* The Spanish Love Deception: A Novel

Copyright 2022 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link, I’ll receive a small stipend.

This Chick Read: By Any Other Name by Lauren Kate

Lanie is a romance editor in a publishing firm who’s biggest client is the super popular Noa Calloway. Lanie loves Noa’s books and has based her entire relationship with her fiancé on a romantic list on the back of one of Noa’s bestsellers. She’s been lucky enough to develop an online friendship with Noa, exchanging edits and quips. When her boss retires, Lanie is given her job as the exclusive editor of Noa Calloways with the caveat that she has to have her next book in hand in three months or the job is not hers. Lanie sets up her first meeting (in person) with Noa and discovers she’s Noah Ross, and yes he’s a man. Lanie heads into a tailspin, thinking everything she’s done in her life was based on this lie. Somehow she has to get past it… and get Noah to write that next bestseller.

What would you do if Nora Roberts turned out to be a man? This is what I thought when I realized Noa Calloway wasn’t who Lanie thought she was, and in fact, was a he. If I were a romantic like Lanie I would probably be upset, shocked, angry, etc. and eventually also realize that I love my job regardless and needed to focus on helping Noah get over his writer’s block. Lanie goes all in, showing Noah her favorite places in New York and helping inspire him on his next story. What she doesn’t realize that this real life plot shift also brings to life some imperfections in her own relationship. In this way, she grows from her youthful expectations of love to realize a more adult outlook on both love and life.

This friends to lovers romance was sweet and very satisfying! Despite the bad feelings, these two cared too much about their friendship to let that one thing stand in the way of their relationship. There was a LOT of initial tension but there’s nothing I like better than when that tone shifts from anger to begrudging respect, adoration, and even love. These two had such great chemistry it would’ve been a crime if they hadn’t found a way to be together.

If you love friends to lovers slow burn romances, this is the perfect book for you. Set in New York, this story felt like a fairytale, and their slow growing romance was fun, sweet, and led up to a fabulous conclusion. What more could a romance reader want? ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this book!* By Any Other Name

Copyright 2022 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.